Saying non credible af here, but in theory one could add a upwards facing shotgun shells on top of the helmet, triggered by a Camera/proximity sensor if it detects a drone/falling grande. Maybe add a gyroscope to check if the helmet is actually facing upwards before triggering. All in all unit cost could be below 250$
- 6x 12 gauge shells with bird shot
- Raspberry pi type controller
- USB cam
- Laser distance sensor
- gyroscope
- servo trigger
Clearly the back pain is not service related and should not be covered.
Anecdote time, feel free to SKIP
My buddy’s humvee got tagged by an rpg during desert storm, everyone inside lived but most were injured. He got away with shrapnel embedded in his arm for most of the next two or three days until it all got removed. Apparently his elbow got it pretty bad.
Fast forward to 98, he’s basically lost feeling in two of his fingers except hot/cold and pressure. “it’s not service related”
2005, most of his hand is partially numb. “it’s not service related”
2013, he has no feeling below the elbow, except sharp pain and extreme hot/cold. “it’s not service related”
2015, he has deadeend feeling from his shoulder to his elbow. “it’s not service related.”
2017, he has difficulty moving his hand now unless he’s looking at it. Spatial awareness is gone. Elbow down completely numb. Shoulder down almost completely numb.
2017, two months later, for seemingly no reason. “It’s service related. You’re on 100% disability. You have 24 hours to quit your job.”
Did he quit his job? And what became of him?
He convinced his doctor to “wait a couple days to inform” him so he could give a few days notice. This was less than a week into his new promotion, too.
Now he spends his days trapping for muskrat (big problem for farmers in the area) and
sells the furs for supplemental income because disability pays shithas hobbies.He seemed to be doing okay last time I spoke to him. Just a little bored when he can’t get outside.
I hope he finds more hobbies that definitely don’t bring him clean stacks of cash, just joy and satisfaction. (Wink) Was he able to get any treatment that helped with mobility? He needs that arm in the war against muskrats, right…
He DID seem to be moving it around better, it’s a bit of a sore topic for him so I never pried, just listened to him when he talked about it. Didn’t want to just go “so, is your arm still shit?”
Like it was noticeably not good when he quit, and the last time I saw him he was moving it pretty much as well as the first time I met him.
So I’m guessing him going back out and doing stuff with his hands more is helping a lot.
My wife has mobility issues with one of her arms due to injury, and she gets better mobility the more she does complex things with her hands.
Protip: if you ever get an injury that limits hand/arm movements, take up knitting, tabletop gaming, and/or video games. Moving your hands around small objects to do delicate things can vastly improve your dexterity.
Glad to hear that it’s not as hopeless as I imagined for people with nerve damage, in spite of the VA’s best efforts. Thanks for the protip.
2025 the VA is legislated out of existence. No replacement is ever proposed. Fuck our service.